Premier League: Round 21 Predictions

It feels like forever ago now so it's quite nice that I've had time to forget about what was a fairly poor Predictor performance in Round 20!

After so many fixtures in quick succession over Christmas, we're now in a far quieter period of the season and Round 21 is the 'winter break' round which sees 5 matches this weekend and 5 matches next weekend so that teams have some rest time.

It's probably wise to still make all of your picks in advance so that you don't forget them next week (you can always change them nearer kick-off), but for the purposes of this article I'll give you my first 5 predictions now and then I'll update this piece with the other 5 next week when I can also reflect on how the round is going.

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Here are my thoughts on the first five Round 21 games.

Burnley vs. Luton

Quite a fun game to start with between these two newly promoted sides and while it's been Luton who have been more impressive so far this season, Burnley have done a good job of pulling out results when desperately needed against their fellow relegation rivals. They won the reverse of this game away at Luton and smashed Sheffield United at home so I think I'm going to side with them in what is pretty much a must-win for the Clarets at Turf Moor. Burnley 2-1 Luton

Chelsea vs. Fulham

I think it's probably a stretch to say that Chelsea are even making progress at the moment, as their performance at Middlesbrough in the League Cup showed, but they're the stronger side in this derby and I think they'll just about get the job done here. Fulham haven't won away since the opening day of the season. Chelsea 2-0 Fulham

Newcastle vs. Manchester City

Given the form of each of these teams I think you have to go with City here. I was thinking Newcastle will make a real game of it, and still do to an extent, but the news that Joelinton is out injured is a real blow given the drive he provides in midfield. City should dominate the ball and Newcastle have been conceding a lot of clear chances lately. There's also the factor that Kevin De Bruyne is back which obviously isn't great news for anyone playing against City. Newcastle 1-3 Manchester City

Everton vs. Aston Villa

A difficult one. Everton's impressive form streak has fallen away now so it's hard to pick them against second in the league and Villa have had far more time to prepare for this fixture than they have for many of their league games so far this season given their Europa Conference League commitments. Villa are the stronger side so I'm going to keep it simple and just go with them. Everton 1-2 Aston Villa

Manchester United vs. Tottenham

There's plenty to talk about with Spurs at the minute as they've already made two signings in this January transfer window - Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin. I'm not going to pretend to know too much about Dragusin and it sounds as if he's behind Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven (who are reportedly now fit again) in the pecking order so he's perhaps unlikely to feature straight away, but we obviously all know about Werner and it's an interesting one. I think he's a good fit in terms of his pace and attacking positioning for their style of play, so it simply comes down to whether or not he can show better composure in front of goal than he did at Chelsea and it's hard to know how it will go.

As I've said all season, I hate predicting Manchester United games as though they tend to be consistently underwhelming performance wise, their results are anything but consistent. Spurs are the form team but they're yet to beat a big side away from home this season and I'm not sure they can do so without Son so I'm going 1-1. Manchester United 1-1 Tottenham

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Update: Second half of the round

So that's 3/5 for me so far which isn't too bad considering United's draw with Spurs was picked by 26% of the community.

Here are my thoughts on the final five games.

Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace

There are understandable concerns about Arsenal's finishing at the moment, but having had some rest time I think they'll be fine here and should win fairly comfortably. If they don't, there'll be severe pressure on the club to bring in a centre forward before the end of the window but Palace will be quite flat after that tame FA Cup exit at Everton in midweek I think. Arsenal 2-0 Crystal Palace

Brentford vs. Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest are definitely the form team but it feels like Brentford will have some real momentum going into this game purely because of Ivan Toney's return from suspension and all of the hype there has been about it this week. The Bees are struggling this season but this remains a winnable home game and I think they can edge it with fresh energy around the crowd, particularly since Forest are set to be without Gibbs-White who is important for them. Brentford 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Sheffield United vs. West Ham

This is a very tricky one and I think I'm going with the upset for now, but may change depending on team news! Sheffield United need to win this game and though they have very little chance of staying up in my opinion, this has emerged as a winnable game for the Blades due to West Ham's injuries.

I might change my pick if Jarrod Bowen is passed fit and starts, but West Ham have him as a doubt and will definitely be without Mohammed Kudus, Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta. We saw with their FA Cup exit at Bristol City how much weaker they are in attack without those players, so Sheffield United have a real chance here in my opinion. Sheffield United 1-0 West Ham

Bournemouth vs. Liverpool

Similarly, this is a difficult away trip for Liverpool without some key players but I think I'm still going with the league leaders as they aren't short of attacking firepower even without Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Bournemouth have been excellent and haven't lost at home for ages so I wouldn't be surprised to see them pick up a point or three, but I'm still just leaning towards Liverpool. Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool

Brighton vs. Wolves

I like both of these teams and wonder if we might see a draw on Monday night but I've decided to pick a narrow home win as Wolves tend to end up losing on the road. Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha will continue to be great to watch in attack for the visitors as I love how direct they both tend to be but Brighton should control the midfield and they had a great result at Molineux early in the season. Brighton 2-1 Wolves



Good luck with your own Round 21 predictions and feel free to leave your own predictions in the comments!